After finishing up my last required medical licensing exam (USMLE Step 3), I devoured the following list of books to make up for a couple years of barely reading anything at all for fun. Most importantly, though, I want to make a plug for Libby, a free app where you can log in with your local library card and borrow audio books and kindle/e-books. Yes, you sometimes have to wait a little bit the way you do at a library, but books usually run $15 a pop, so if you’re not someone who feels a deep desire to own your books rather than borrow, it’s a great tool. I do think larger public libraries like NYPL etc probably have larger collections to borrow from than smaller local libraries, so if you can get a library card to the largest library near you, Libby will be even more helpful. I basically didn’t pay for any of the books below, which saved me $500 minimum, and the wait times for the books are generally pretty short (i.e. a couple weeks or less).
Favorites:
Born a Crime – HIGHLY recommend listening as an audio book as Trevor Noah does the recording and his delivery is spot on.
Shantaram – I hated the mispronunciations throughout the audiobook – the least they could have done was hired an orator who spoke Hindi. But the book was so good that I still listened to all 25+ hours of the audio.
Becoming – Michelle Obama does the audio, so it’s fantastic.
A Place for Us – not sure why this hit me so hard. I think if you’re South Asian, Muslim, and/or an older sister, this will really strike a chord with you.
The House in the Cerulean Sea – so wholesome and the author creates a magical world that reminds me of what JK Rowling was able to do.
Between the World and Me – absolutely loved the writing and the author’s perspective. I didn’t relate to it, and that’s the point of reading different perspectives.
Other Books I Enjoyed
Me Talk Pretty One Day – written by a comedian, so it’s hilarious and the audio is done by the author so the audiobook is especially hilarious. A lot of the rest of the books on this list are also by comedians with audio done by the comedians, so I’m going to put an *** if that’s the case.
Circe – a little different than the books I normally read but it was good!
Dad is Fat ***
Tropical Attire Encouraged ***
Bossy Pants ***
Magical Thinking ***
Books I thought were ‘meh’
Little Fires Everywhere – really just didn’t get the hype and how this got picked up and made into a TV series.
Is this Anything? – I probably just expected too much because of who the author is. Still good but I was underwhelmed and it felt too ‘stream of consciousness.’
Digital Minimalism – really feel like this could have been an article or Ted Talk
The Likeability Trap – again, feel like this could be an article or Ted Talk
Books I couldn’t Make It Through
American Royals – maybe it was the audio/narration I didn’t like but I couldn’t get through it
Lessons in Chemistry – going to try to give this one another chance – it has so many good reviews
A Fine Balance – I still listened to several hours worth but it’s super long, so that was only 15% of the entire book. It was good and I’ll probably go back to it.
